The deflation concept

When I continualy train, I'm usually thick and hard throughout the week and even on my off days. This week I skipped the gym due to work training, my sleep has been deprived due to a 180 on my schedule, and my diet has sucked as well.

Most important, it looks like Ive deflated. My chest seems like its half its original size, my arms have shrunken, and Im wondering why such a dramatic change. It seems like all my work has diminished.

I think it is probably due to your diet that you said was lacking and sleep. Stress and a change in schedule will do it in my own experience. I may be wrong but thats what I have experienced in the past with the same kind of situation.

Two words - stress and diet. Same thing happens to me when I get stressed, which has been a lot lately. Stress also zaps my appetite in a big way, which means I end up losing lean body weight, quickly. Also screws up my sleep. I'm going to the doc next week to see if I can get something to help with stress and anxiety. I've used phenibut and 5-htp with some success, but neither has really been able to knock it down to an acceptable level.

When I continualy train, I'm usually thick and hard throughout the week and even on my off days. This week I skipped the gym due to work training, my sleep has been deprived due to a 180 on my schedule, and my diet has sucked as well.

Most important, it looks like Ive deflated. My chest seems like its half its original size, my arms have shrunken, and Im wondering why such a dramatic change. It seems like all my work has diminished.

Any thoughts?

I disagree with the others, and would say that it is more from the lack of TRAINING than anything else. When you're training, it's easier to maintain a pump and that "hard" look, and from personal experience, whenever I have time off training, even for a few days, I notice a difference in how I look almost immediately. The lack of pump would make you appear as though your are smaller, even if you are actually not. If you're not eating a lot of carbohydrates, this can make a difference as well.

I guess I was taken by surprise in the difference of my size and body composition after just one week of poor eating, no training, and lack of sleep. I guess I figured that I had built some good muscle, it just feels like all my work was destroyed by one week of bad things.

I guess I was taken by surprise in the difference of my size and body composition after just one week of poor eating, no training, and lack of sleep. I guess I figured that I had built some good muscle, it just feels like all my work was destroyed by one week of bad things.

One week of bad is not going to destroy your efforts - so long as you get back on track and don't let it continue.

Your 1 wk of poor diet might be good for you. A change in diet can spark new growth. Over the holidays I ate everything in sight and also took a week off to go to Texas. When I returned to the gym and cleaned my diet up, I realized I was lifting heavier and had better workouts. U will bounce back quick...dont sweat it man.

A pump from training might only last a few hours, but you can maintain a pump throughout the day by manipulating your nutrition (i.e. carbohydrate intake) and other things (i.e. temperature, ADLs, etc,), not to mention that the "hard" look that a pump can give can remain all the time if you are resistance training.

You will relax at some point. However, if you eat consistently enough, your body will stay full. No, you are not going to look like you just finished at the gym all the time, but your muscles will stay full provided you are healthy, doing cardio which helps maintain a pump and eating the right amounts often enough.